Synopsis
America (2017 series) #8 synopsis by
Rob Johnson
Rating:
America Chavez lies on a cloud above the interdimensional Sotomayor University and revels in what her grandmother Madrimar told her last issue. About planet Fuertona where her mother Amalia was born, before she met the other mother Elena in the Utopian Parallel. So now she drifts down to the Campus.
Spring Break is over and America decides to move out of her van and into the deGrasse Tyson dorms where her friends Prodigy and X'Andria live. David Alleyene helps her move her stuff, but she can't stop talking about her new family. He tells her that the Campus has a new Dean Of Students. Later X'Andria holocalls to invite her onto her campaign staff for becoming Student Body President.
Even later she goes to visit Professor Canelita Douglas in her treehouse apartment. After being greeted by the Prof's little dog Azucar she thanks her for helping Madrimar find her, but wishes she hadn't done it so secretly. But now they agree to meet tomorrow to discuss her ancestry. But when America is gone the Prof gets kidnapped.
A and P go to X's room to discuss the campaign. X'Andria wants the emulate her mom and grandma who were both Student Presidents. But America pops out onto the balcony to take a call from her old girlfriend Magdalena (who we met in #5-6). Mags wants to resume their relationship but Ame isn't so sure. Then she senses surveillance ...
... but she has no time to think about that because there are explosions in the air and an attack by Mindless Ones (last seen with Arcade in Las Vegas in #6). AC considers using the Power Stomp on them again, that Madrimar taught her (#6). But she settles for fists, and P & X join in and soon they've dealt with the 4 MOs here. Prodigy says he's going to check the security system. X'Andria's going to check the dorms. AC's off to check the rest of the Campus, starting with Prof Douglas. She finds Azucar holding off 2 Mindless Ones. She gets rid of them but there's no sign of the Prof. As she flies away with the dog she hears an emergency announcement. All students must congregate at the Chavela Vargas Amphitheatre - no flying allowed. And a blonde woman watches her.
At the gathering Davis says Sotomayor's defence shields were deactivated by someone with high access just before the explosions and teleporting MOs. The mystery blonde takes the stage and tells them she's the new Dean Of Students Dr Billie Brightly. Because the attack highlighted how unsafe the Campus is she's imposing extra security measures - a sundown curfew, restrictions on flight and teleportation with power dampeners, and a total ban on star portals. America protests that the students weren't consulted. Brightly accuses her of being in league with the Mindless Ones and shows video of her in the places where they attacked. She brushes aside questions about Prof Douglas and says that these precautions will only be for the 1 night. America backs down.
But after curfew she slips out to try to find Douglas again. Meanwhile Brightly goes to see X'Andria and says that America is a suspect in the Professor's disappearance. She asks her to keep an eye on her, and suggests it would be a boost to her campaign to be seen to put the University above her friendships. AC returns to tell David that she can't find any trace of the Prof. She wants to use portals to locate her. Prodigy admits that he's found the surveillance camera system and can hack it to temporarily shift their view and lower the strength of the dampeners. America uses the time to open multiple portals all keyed to finding Canela Douglas.
But Brightly is watching and is excited to see the extent of her powers. She reveals herself to be really Exterminatrix (Oubliette Midas) who we saw at the end of the last 2 issues, and she intends to take Chavez and weaponise her powers to help her Midas Corporation expand throughout the universe. We also see that she has Prof Douglas in 1 of the ubiquitous containment tubes.
She sets off an alarm and then goes to Alleyne's room where she catches Chavez with the portals. She accuses AC of breaking curfew and teleporting. David protests that she didn't teleport but Brightly warns him to shut up or she'll have to assume he's a conspirator. She then blames America's rule-breaking on her parentless upbringing. This reference to her mothers angers AC into threatening her but Brightly pretends to understand how 'her people' are prone to violence - she's the only 1 on Campus breaching security. And we see that this exchange is being broadcast across the Campus.
Prodigy calms Chavez down. She points out that he was right that she never teleported. But her opponent still cites breaking curfew (physically looking for Prof Douglas) and opening portals to other dimensions (also looking) which put the University in danger. She mentions that AC's activities in Las Vegas (#6 with the Mindless Ones) brought her to the attention of the Midas Corp. And there were other attacks like the teenage cyborgs (#2, students from the Midas High School). And all these incidents occurred after Chavez joined the U. America is astonished that she knows about Midas, but Brightly twists that into America admitting to be working for the Corp.
Brightly calls in FIST, her newly-formed Foreign Invasion Security Team. A team of fully-armoured troops surround them. America tries to punch a portal to escape but the dampener system stops it working. A trooper cuffs her. She and David agree with each other to keep cool. Brightly addresses all watching students to say that they're taking AC for a 'refresher on safety protocol'. They take her away and 1 trooper is assigned to make sure Alleyne doesn't do anything.
But when they've gone the trooper unmasks as X'Andria.
CharactersGood (or All)Plus: Canela Douglas, Prodigy (
David Alleyne), X'Andria.
Enemies
Exterminatrix, Mindless Ones.